Gingerich v. City of Elkhart Probation Department

273 F.R.D. 532, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11968, 2011 WL 556798
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedFebruary 8, 2011
DocketNo. 2:10 cv 276
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 273 F.R.D. 532 (Gingerich v. City of Elkhart Probation Department) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gingerich v. City of Elkhart Probation Department, 273 F.R.D. 532, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11968, 2011 WL 556798 (N.D. Ind. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

ANDREW P. RODOVICH, United States Magistrate Judge.

This matter is before the court on the Motion to Compel or, in the Alternative, Motion for In Camera Review [DE 20] filed by the plaintiff, Angela Gingerich, on November 24, 2010. For the following reasons, the motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

Background

This matter arises from the claim of the plaintiff, Angela Gingerich, that she was retaliated against after filing a complaint alleging sexual harassment and a sexually harassing work environment created by her direct supervisor, Chief Probation Officer Anthony Weaver. Gingerich also filed a claim for negligence and negligent retention for the continued employment of Weaver due to his alleged past discipline for engaging in sexual activity with another member of the Probation Department staff. Gingerich additionally complains that the defendants interfered with her right to take a medical leave pursuant to the Family and Medical Leave Act. The defendant, City of Elkhart Police Department, admits that Gingerich complained about Weaver, but it denies that any of the alleged events took place. Elkhart also asserts that it acted in good faith and took [536]*536reasonable steps to investigate Gingerich’s complaints of harassment and retaliation.

In an effort to conduct discovery, Gingerich sent Elkhart a series of interrogatories and requests for production. To date, Gingerich argues that Elkhart failed to provide complete responses to her first, fourth, sixth, seventh, and eleventh interrogatories. Elk-hart also failed to produce the documents Gingerich requested in her first, second, third, fourth, eleventh, and fourteenth requests for production, arguing that the requested documents are privileged under the attorney-client, work product, or deliberative process privileges. Gingerich now moves to compel responses to her interrogatories and requests for production.

Discussion

A party may “obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the claim or defense of any party, including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition and location of any books, documents, or other tangible things.” Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1). For discovery purposes, relevancy is construed broadly to encompass “any matter that bears on, or that reasonably could lead to other matter[s] that could bear on, any issue that is or may be in the case.” Chavez v. Daimler-Chrysler Corp., 206 F.R.D. 615, 619 (S.D.Ind. 2002) (quoting Oppenheimer Fund, Inc. v. Sanders, 437 U.S. 340, 351, 98 S.Ct. 2380, 2389, 57 L.Ed.2d 253 (1978)). Even when information is not directly related to the claims or defenses identified in the pleadings, the information still may be relevant to the broader subject matter at hand and meet the rule’s good cause standard. Borom v. Town of Merrillville, 2009 WL 1617085, *1 (N.D.Ind. June 8, 2009) (citing Sanyo Laser Prods., Inc. v. Arista Records, Inc., 214 F.R.D. 496, 502 (S.D.Ind.2003)). See also Adams v. Target, 2001 WL 987853, *1 (S.D.Ind. July 30, 2001) (“For good cause, the court may order discovery of any matter relevant to the subject matter involved in the action.”); Shapo v. Engle, 2001 WL 629303, *2 (N.D.Ill. May 25, 2001) (“Discovery is a search for the truth.”).

A party may seek an order to compel discovery when an opposing party fails to respond to discovery requests or has provided evasive or incomplete responses. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(a)(2)-(3). The burden “rests upon the objecting party to show why a particular discovery request is improper.” Gregg v. Local 305 IBEW, 2009 WL 1325103, *8 (N.D.Ind. May 13, 2009) (citing Kodish v. Oakbrook Terrace Fire Protection Dish, 235 F.R.D. 447, 449-50 (N.D.Ill. 2006)); McGrath v. Everest Nat. Ins. Co., 2009 WL 1325405, *3 (N.D.Ind. May 13, 2009) (internal citations omitted); Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, Inc. v. Hammond Professional Cleaning Services, 2009 WL 692224, *5 (N.D.Ind. March 12, 2009) (internal citations omitted). The objecting party must show with specificity that the request is improper. Cunningham v. Smithkline Beecham, 255 F.R.D. 474, 478 (N.D.Ind.2009) (citing Graham v. Casey’s General Stores, 206 F.R.D. 251, 254 (S.D.Ind.2002)). That burden cannot be met by “a reflexive invocation of the same baseless, often abused litany that the requested discovery is vague, ambiguous, overly broad, unduly burdensome or that it is neither relevant nor reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” Cunningham, 255 F.R.D. at 478 (citing Burkybile v. Mitsubishi Motors Corp., 2006 WL 2325506, *6 (N.D.Ill. Aug. 2, 2006)) (internal quotations and citations omitted). Rather, the court, under its broad discretion, considers “the totality of the circumstances, weighing the value of material sought against the burden of providing it, and taking into account society’s interest in furthering the truth-seeking function in the particular case before the court.” Berning v. UAW Local 2209, 242 F.R.D. 510, 512 (N.D.Ind.2007) (examining Patterson v. Avery Dennison Corp., 281 F.3d 676, 681 (7th Cir.2002)) (internal quotations and citations omitted).

Gingerich’s first interrogatory questioned whether the defendant was properly identified in the caption. The defendant responded that “there is an agency within the City of Elkhart designated as the Elkhart Probation Department; however, Defendant denies that Plaintiff has named the proper entity as a Defendant in this cause.” (Pltf. Br. Ex. 1) In Gingerich’s brief filed in support of her motion to compel, she argues that the defen[537]*537dant’s counsel orally stated that the City of Elkhart is a proper party and that the defendant must state this in a sworn response to the interrogatory. The defendant responded that it is Gingerieh’s burden, not the defendant’s, to identify the proper parties, and that this interrogatory elicits an improper legal conclusion.

Interrogatories are not objectionable merely because they call for an opinion or contention that relates to a fact or its application. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 33 (committee notes). Opinions that call for the application of law to the facts can be helpful in conducting discovery. Rule 33 (committee notes). However, interrogatories may not be extended to issues of pure law that are unrelated to the facts of the case. Rule 33 (committee notes); Gregg v. Local 305 IBEW, 2010 WL 556526, *4 (N.D.Ind. Feb. 9, 2010); Strode v. Venice, 2007 WL 294263, *7 (S.D.Ill. Jan. 30, 2007). For this reason, opposing parties cannot be compelled to respond to interrogatories that call for pure legal conclusions. Gregg, 2010 WL 556526 at *4; Strode, 2007 WL 294263 at *7.

Gingerieh’s first interrogatory does not appear to elicit an impermissible legal conclusion. Interrogatory 1 questioned whether the Elkhart Probation Department was properly named.

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Bluebook (online)
273 F.R.D. 532, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11968, 2011 WL 556798, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gingerich-v-city-of-elkhart-probation-department-innd-2011.